Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl combine the butter and maple sugar until it is creamy. Stir in the egg and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until it comes together into a dough. If the dough is sticky you can add a little more flour as needed.
Divide the dough into two halves and roll each one out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper until it’s about 1/4 inch thick.
Place one rolled-out dough on parchment on a sheet pan, then put the second rolled-out dough on parchment on top of the first. Then cover the top dough with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap.
Refrigerate the rolled-out doughs for at least 1-2 hours or overnight.
Once the dough has been chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Pull one rolled-out dough out of the refrigerator.
Use maple leaf shaped cookie cutters to cut the dough into maple shapes (or whatever shapes you like). When you’ve used all the dough you can re-roll the scraps to cut more shapes.
Put the cut out maple leaves onto the baking sheet with an inch or so in between them. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn brown.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for several minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
Repeat with the remaining dough until all the cookies are baked. Let the cookies cool completely before icing them.
Maple Icing
Melt the butter and maple syrup together, either on the stove top or in the microwave.
Whisk in the sifted powdered sugar and a pinch of salt.
Dip the face of the cookies into the freshly made icing, letting the excess drip off. Place them on a cooling rack or parchment paper until the icing sets. If the icing starts to cool it can also be spread with a knife onto the cookie.
Notes
Maple cream can be used in place of the maple icing, it will just need to be spread with a knife onto the cookies.As the icing cools it becomes thicker and it’s harder to dip, but it can still be spread with a knife onto each cookie, just like if you are using pre-made maple cream. Or you can reheat the icing to continue dipping.The maple icing will fully set on the cookies after a few hours, then they can be stacked on top of each other.